About self-encrypting drives (SED) on Flex 53x2 appliances

Flex Appliances support models with built‑in self‑encrypting drive (SED) capabilities to help protect data at rest. The 53x2 Flex Appliance series includes operating system and storage drives that support self‑encryption and are referred to as SED models.

On SED‑enabled systems, encryption is handled at the drive level to ensure that data remains protected even if a drive is removed from the appliance. When the operating system drives are secured using the default platform key, the system automatically attempts to unlock the drives during the boot sequence, requiring no user intervention.